Aromatic polyimides have long been known, such as those described in Endrey, U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,631 and Gall, U.S. Pat. No. 3,249,588. Further improved polyimides were more recently discovered by Manwiller and Anton, and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,555. Each of the above patents is hereby incorporated by reference.
Previous polyimides, with their resistance to high temperatures and overall mechanical properties, have found wide acceptance as coatings and fabricated parts used in technically demanding environments such as jet engines, business machines, automotive components and diverse industrial equipment. However, despite the excellent performance characteristics of previously available polyimide compositions, the applicability of these materials has been limited by the intractibility of many polyimides. Specifically, many aromatic polyimides cannot be formed appreciably in their final chemical configuration. Accordingly, the polyamic acid precursor previously was formed into the desired final configuration, such as a film, prior to conversion into the polyimide. In the alternative, formed articles of polyimide have previously been machined into their desired shape.
While these techniques have proved to be satisfactory in the past, it would be desirable to provide a composition which combined the outstanding high temperature performance of aromatic polyimides with injection molding capability.